A Day of Rest

My cold is still in force, and tho I intended to go to church today with the fam (we had a special presentation today, so I didn't have to coordinate it), i fell asleep, and missed it!
I have made an effort today to rest. I think the commandment most often broken is the one to take a day of rest.
We finally unpacked the Wii and played it a bit today -- the bowling game, and the Mario Brothers Galaxy. I'm going to try the Boogie game pretty soon. Sure glad this house doesn't have big picture windows....

Saturday

We went looking at new Chargers for DH. I'd called ahead to say we were coming, but apparently the salesguy I'd been talking to doesn't work there anymore, whoops. The new salesguy's a bit of the old school, left us sitting there for over twenty minutes while he went and got a price, etc., so I started calling other dealers on my list, which he didn't like too much...
Salesguy was pushing hard for us to buy one of his 07 Chargers, but it was white. Bleugh. I hate me some white cars.
So, we are discussing which options we want, and which we actually NEED, which can be widely divergent.
I went to Debbie's in the afternoon for some scrapbooking, but my annual Christmas cold has come upon me, so I left the scrapbooking gathering early...

Meh

Went to see "P.S. I Love You" with Debbie yesterday, which was...ok. Had some funny bits, but ultimately disappointing. I really wanted to like it, but for one thing it was too long. After about 90 minutes, I kept checking my watch -- not a good sign.

Changes

I don't think I've mentioned this yet, but I've changed churches in the past couple of months. This was a Big Deal. I have attended Champion Forest Baptist Church since July of 1994 -- basically since I moved to Houston. I met DH there, got married there, and made many of my Houston friends there.
My church attendance during chemoland was sporadic, and once I started feeling better, and I started going regularly, I just felt...restless, as if CFBC was not where I was supposed to be. I would think about volunteering to be a SS teacher in DD1's class, and God would say, "Are you sure you want to do that?"
So I started visiting other churches. I visited Mark Shook's church in Hockley, that the girls detested. So I was praying about where to go next, and God put Cypress United Methodist Church on my heart. This is where DD2 went to preschool last year.
So we visited, and I walked in to the worship service, and recognized the worship leader as a friend of mine. I work with him at the quarterly marriage events at CFBC. I'm the producer and drama person.
So after the service, which I really liked, I went up to him and hugged him, and he said excitedly, "Are you coming here now? Because we need a production leader and a drama person!"
I told him I would pray about it, and God led me to commit to CUMC.
It's been very nice, because CUMC is a scant 7 minutes from my house. After ten years of the half hour trek to my old church, it's nice to be able to zip to church.
Farewell, CFBC. You are an awesome church.

Merry, Merry Christmas!

I woke up at 7, tidied the house, put the frozen apple strudel in the oven, got the video camera ready, set out film for the camera, and made a plate of goodies for everyone to snack on while we opened gifts.
DD1 woke up just before 8, as did DH. We woke up DD2 after that.

My brother-in-law is single, and works on computers, so he often wraps presents in spare boxes he has around. My favorite quote from the morning:

DD1: (taking the paper off a box and reading the printing on the box) A data modem!

Merry Christmas!

The secret to having your children sleep late on Christmas Day is to exhaust them on Christmas Eve. DH took DD2 shopping, as tho the dear man had had my Christmas list since the 10th, he hadn't had the chance to go shopping till yesterday. I wrapped gifts, and then DD1 and I
* mailed 2 gifts and bought stamps
* went to the kolache shop for breakfast and put stamps on the Christmas card envelopes while we were eating
* mailed the cards
* went to Petsmart for some gifts for the pets
* went to Linens and Things where DD1 picked out her gift for DH
* went to Dillard's to get new robes for the girls. By God's grace, they had them so we didn't have to enter the chaos of the mall itself.
* Target for film and baseball cards. The digital camera is still broken, so I wanted to make sure I had plenty of film for our camera.
* swung by James Coney Island for a hot dog on the road
* La Madeleine for a jar of soup as a stocking stuffer for DH
* Honey Baked Ham -- it only took 30 minutes!

Came home, dropped off one daughter, picked up the other. We got her bangs cut, got groceries, went to Target so DD2 could pick our HER gift for DH.
Came home, printed out the production grid for church, the girls changed clothes, and we went to church. I had to be there early as I'm the production leader (or whatever), so I had to make sure everyone had mikes, and we got sound checks, and so on, and the people lighting the Christ candle in the Advent wreath knew when to come on and what to do.
The 5 o'clock service went well. The DDs sat by my friend Tamra as I was up in the crow's nest, and she took them to her house afterward for a Christmas party.
I sat with the lady in charge of running the slides that show the lyrics, and we made sure they matched what the band was going to sing at the 7 p.m. service.
Then I had to run home, pick up the gifts I'd bought for Santa to give to the girls at the party, drop them off at Tamra's house, and run back to church.
7 p.m. service went well, a few minor hiccups, but nothing major. I talked to the pastor and the band leader about a few things, ate some food, and went to pick up the girls.
I'm sure they would have liked me to stay for the 9 p.m. service, but I told them family comes first.
I got to chat to some nice people at the party, and then the girls and I went home. They put on their new flannel nightgowns, set out cookies and chocolate milk for Santa, set out reindeer food, and went to bed. DD1 had wanted to make cookies last night, and I just laughed at her.
I was in bed and asleep by 10:30.

Thirty Minutes of MyLife I'll Never Get Back

so i call Home Depot, because this girl at Home Depot keeps calling me and telling me my special order is in and i need to come pick it up. i naturally assume this is the laminate we ordered for the living room and kitchen BACK BEFORE HALLOWEEN. the gal at HD (a different one), after some research, says the call was in regard to the putty for the laminate, not the laminate itself. which is odd, because apparently the reason it has taken so long is the order was put on hold because the putty was on back order, and finally Deandre at HD ordered the laminate separately from the putty, since the putty wasn't supposed to be available until January.
so i call the installer, and after being on hold for over 20 minutes, they tell me i'm responsible for getting the laminate to my house, and it has to be IN my house for 3 days b4 they can install it.
so i call HD back, and the lady checks and discovers that the laminate is NOT in, just the putty. Sure, let me come pick that right up. Because I have all these uses for laminate putty.

Progress Is Made

Woke up, made banana bread batter, filled up 5 mini tins and put them in the oven. Took DD2 over to a friend's house, came back, packed up the freshly baked banana bread, and jars of chocolate-covered peanuts with attached ornaments (made by my mom) in a picnic basket, and went to the Christmas party at DD1's school. DD1 had a great time handing out candy, ornaments and bread to her 2 teachers, the assistant teacher, the para, the librarian, the nurse, the 2 art teachers, the receptionist, the principal, and the 2 gym teachers. I miscalculated, and the music teacher got left out. So I told DD1 we could make her something for when school starts back up.

I'd post a pic of the goodies, but DD1 accidentally dropped the camera 2 days ago with the lens open, and now it won't work. Sigh. DH is going to try to take it apart and fix it.

Came home after the party, and DD1 helped me assemble photo books for the grandmothers, and wrap gifts for assorted relatives. We mailed 7 packages, and then it was time to pick up DD2. We went to lunch at Lupe Tortillas, and then dropped off DD1 at her SECOND party of the day. I picked up the Christmas photo cards at CostCo, stuffed them in envelopes, picked up DD1 from the party, swung by Pizza Hut and ordered pizza. The pizza lady said it'd take 30 minutes, and there was a nail salon next door, so DD1 got her nails painted, and I got a pedicure while we waited for our pizza.

The envelopes are now addressed, but I still need to print out the Christmas letter and stuff that in there, and buy stamps. Still! Progress is made.

Oh, can I just tell you? The lady in front of me at the UPS store was mailing a box of gifts to Wyoming, and wanted it there by Christmas. UPS doesn't count Saturday or Sunday, so she had to send it two-day and paid ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY TWO DOLLARS to ship the box.

Zumba

I have discovered a class at the gym that I like. It's called Zumba, and it'a a Cardio/Latin fusion class. The first time I took it was Friday, and it was funfunfun, with lots of dance moves like the sprinkler and the lawnmower, body rolls, and so on.
I took it today, and it was still fun, but not as much. The class on Friday was taught in the gym by a fun girl, who was just enthusiastic, having fun dancing. Today's class was taught by a drill sargeant, who kept exhorting us to lift our knees higher, move farther, jump higher! Plus, her moves were more those you'd find in an aerobics class. Plus, the class was taught in a smaller room with a MIRROR.

Loyal Supporter of My Local Grocery Store

1:30 p.m. Sunday. Go to grocery store to buy a basket of flour, sugar, etc. for a local charity.
7:30 p.m. Sunday. Go to grocery store to buy supper, lunch meat, and sugar-free candy
6:15 a.m. Monday. Go to grocery store to buy bananas, flour, sugar, etc., to bake banana bread for the staff at DD2's school. (I'd forgotten the deadline was that monring.)
6:15 p.m. Monday. Go to grocery store to get fruit tray for DD1's Brownie Christmas party.

And? I'm out of tub butter and getting low on a few other things....

Party Animal

I went to a playwriters' Christmas party last night. We each had brought a 2 minute play that was read, and then we voted on our favorites. I tied for second and won $8! It was between that or a book on playwriting, but I know I would NEVER read the book. I have all these books on parenting and the like that I buy, fully intending to read them, and I start them, and never finish.
I sat next to a dear man who is coming out of treatment for colon cancer. Unfortunately, he tends to be somewhat of a melancholy disposition, and much of his conversation at dinner focused on people he knew who'd had cancer and DIED. Finally, the lady -- who is legally blind -- who was sitting across from me said, "I think she wants to talk about something else."

PhotoShopping Around

I got PhotoShop for Christmas and have been experimenting, to wit:

it's supposed to look like an impressionist painting.

I Do This Every Year

I start getting ready for Christmas in late October/early November, and then I think I'm in good shape, so I take a couple of weeks off from Christmas preparations. A
nd then it's mid-December, and the letter isn't done, the presents aren't mailed, the decorations aren't done....
As I write this, my coffee table is covered with Christmas decorations that the DDs got out for me. The Christmas letter is written, but not printed, stuffed, addressed or mailed. There are no Christmas lights outside. Cute wooden cutouts, yes. Lights, no. Christmas shopping is about 2/3 done.
I looked at the calendar for today, and for the first time this week, there is nothing written on today's square! So i hope to get on the ball and get some Christmas stuff done. (Of course, part of me wants to just forget it and go see a movie...)

Style

I have at least 4 pairs of Target sunglasses, and I can't find any of them. So for the past few days, I have been sporting some very fashionable Barbie sunglasses I unearthed from underneath a car seat...

I spoke at DD2's school's chapel on Wednesday, which was fun. I wrote a little play for it, one angel explaining to another who'd been out of town about how Jesus was coming to earth as a baby, and the angel not believing him. A couple of high school students performed in the play, and then I spoke for a few minutes about how it was a sacrifice for Jesus even to show up, as He gave up all His power to become a defenseless baby.

If you want, I can post the script here.

Had my yearly appointment with the speculum today. Waited for an hour in the waiting room, but i expected this, as my OBGYN is very busy, and his patients are always having babies. So I made sure tobring along one of my novels of no redeeming value whatsoever.
OBGYN said everything seemed fine. I'm going to have a blood test to see if the menopause is here to stay or not.
I had Indian food for lunch, and then worked out. This was a mistake, as i kept burping as I worked out, and curry doesn't taste nearly as good the second time around...

Fancy Schmantzy

DH and I went to his company's Christmas party on Saturday at the Post Oak Hilton. This is a coat-and-tie kind of affair, with hors-d'oeuvres consisting of cocktail shrimp and other seafood served in a large ice sculpture in the shape of a ship, an open bar, a band, doore prizes, etc. Here's the menu:
*Roasted Butternut Squash Bisque with Cinnamon Toasted Walnuts served in baby pumpkins
*Poached Lobster Tail with Grilled Artichokes over Shaved Celery Root and Fennel with Microgreens and a Lemon Thyme Vinaigrette
*Lolla Rossa and Frisee Greens, Vermont White Cheddar, Granny Smith Apples Compote, Raspberry Balsamic Vinaigrette
*Filet Mignon and Roasted Stuffed Breast of Pheasant with Spinach and Pheasant Mousse Red Wine Reduction and Dried Cranberry Compote, Garlic Roasted Parsnips, Asparagus Spears and Baby Vegetables
*Miniature Fruit Tartlets, Cream Swans, Caramel Apple Lollipops-dipping station, Cinnamon Maple Apples with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
*Deluxe Coffee Station

I know, I didn't know what half of that stuff was, either. I basically ate the vegetables and left the meat, which ensured I had room for a small dessert or two and some coffee.

My Hair

is now long enough to be slicked back, should I so desire.

The New Reality Tastes Bad

So, all these nutrition books I have reading to ward off a recurrence of the cancer are unified in recommending sprouted bread. Sprouted bread is bread that has been allowed to germinate. And I bought some. If you want to know how it tastes, all I have to tell you is that the dog, who serves as our mobile garbage disposal, wouldn't even touch it.

My Bathroom Scales Are Possessed

Seriously. I stepped on them Tuesday. 184. OK, not great, but whatever.
I step on them yesterday. 175.5.
What? No way I've lost 8.5 lbs in A DAY, because I am certainly not on the Biggest Loser regime. So, I wait for it to reset, and step on it again. 178. What? I gained 2.5 lbs in a MINUTE?

M'gram

Had a mammomgram today. When will i find out the results? In a month.

Today...

...is a stay-in-your-pajamas-and-do-the-laundry day. lunch? a clean-out-the-freezer meal, consisting of eda mame and a couple of egg rolls.


Madame La Princesse dumped out her mouthwash yesterday, declaring that she wanted me to buy her a different flavor. She was summarily informed that a) fat chance would i buy her any mouthwash in the foreseeable future, and b) she is going to pay us back for the mouthwash she dumped out.

Not Much

DD1: (entering the kitchen) What's for supper?
Me: Leeks
DD1: Yuk.
Me: Why did you say yuk? You've never had them.
DD1: (peering into the pot) Oh. I thought you meant leeches.

Woke up at 4:30 Saturday morning with a hot flash, and decided to go clean the kitchen for a bit, which then morphed into tidying the rest of the house. I never did go back to sleep.
The girls and I went to a couple of craft shows Saturday morning, and then ate at Husky's, which! despite its name, features burgers with Angus beef, and your choice of white, wheat or onion buns. They also have a Reduced Fat Combo, with no-fat cheese, and baked fries. I think I have found my new favorite burger place...
We went to see "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" at Cypress Bible on Saturday night. The girls' favorite part was when the angel said, "Shazam! Jesus is born!"

Today

Had lunch at Ashland house today with Chris. I had the veggie plate, which had collard greens, fried asparagus, sweet potato, tomatoes and black beans. Mmmm. I really don't care for sweet potatoes, but they are chock full of vitamins and anti-cancer hoohah, so I just pulled up my big girl panties and ate it anyway.
Which made me feel justified in having the peach cobbler afterward -- the first sugar I've had in several days. Goodness, it was good. Right up there with my mom's peach cobber.
DH is still puny. Stayed home from work again today.
I worked out today, and set up an appt to start meeting with a trainer on Monday.

Nice Guy

I was Office Depot today picking up some stuff, including some paper. I bought a couple of reams of paper, the kind where they donate money to BC research if you buy it. The guy ahead of me in line noticed that, and bought a couple of reams of the same kind of paper, too! I thanked him, and he said, "Hey, I've got a wife and a mom..."

It's Christmas Time

...the girls decided they wanted to make a gingerbread tree tonight, and wanted to listen to Christmas carols while they did so. This can mean only one thing to me: The Ray Conniff Singers. We had one Christmas LP growing up, and it was of the Ray Conniff Singers. So I always make sure we have that playing on Christmas day.

Friends

Y'all, if you don't have a friend like Dragana, get one. She came by last night and dropped off low-sugar banana muffins to help me feel better.

Melange

There's so much in my head I'm not sure what to write about today, so forgive me if this is a little hodge-podgy.
* I got a v/m today from DD1's school, saying she'd missed 9 days this year so far, and if she misses 9 more, she might be held back. Is there anything the school can do to help her? Considering she's making straight A's, i think we're good for right now.
* Had a cavity filled today. Ouch.
* I went to DD2's school around 8:40 today, to sit in on chapel. I'm supposed to be the speaker in a couple of weeks, and i wanted to see how it's done. As I was walking in, they stopped me and told me DD2's skirt was too short for dress code, so I had to take her home and have her change. Whoops!
* Indian food for lunch today. mmmmmm. I had lunch with DD1 at her school, and she wanted a meatball sandwich. this s'wich contained 3 meatballs, one of which landed on the floor.
* a friend of a friend was diagnosed with stage 4 sarcoma recently. she's in high school. i have a bit of a messiah complex, so of course i emailed my friend with a summary of what "Beating Cancer With Nutrition" says. Her name is Chelsea, and her mom is a court reporter, so she only gets paid when she's there. please pray for Chelsea's healing. i hate cancer.

i'm kind of sad today. with Jacque's death, chelsea's diagnosis, carrie and mia's going thru cancer treatment, me dealing with the fear of recurrence (and mets, and dying). it's a lot. if you can't find me, look under the covers on my bed.....

The First One

Jacque, a wonderful, warm, funny, kind woman died of BC on Thanksgiving. I knew her through breastcancer.org, as we started chemo the same month. She could always be counted on for some positive thoughts, or something funny. She was diagnosed a year ago -- this was her second goround with BC, and by the time they caught it, it was in her lungs.
Here's her blog.
http://www.jacqnielsplace.blogspot.com/
I miss her.
I hate breast cancer.

The Promised Land

Trust must be an act of the will, never natural. God will always keep some major urgent need to keep us depending. God is dependable, and He wants us to live our lives in complete dependance on Him. We can depend on His plans and promises, that He will remain true to His character.

Found the above just now. It's notes from a bible study I took last year.

I may have ruminated about this before, so if I have, just skip this and go on.

i was talking to a fellow survivor Sunday -- she's a two year survivor -- and asking her how she dealt with the fear of recurrance. Because now that all the excitement and busyness of chemo and rads is over, there's nothing. Nothing to protect me from recurrance. A relative sent me "Noon At Nordie's", which is an account of 4 young women's journey thru BC. The problem is, two of those 4 women have since died from BC. So, it's a very real fear, esp with my kind of cancer, which was very aggressive.

So God and I were talking about this, and He reminded me of the story in the Bible of the 12 spies. God had promised the land of Canaan to the Hebrews, and they got to the border, and Moses sent out 12 spies to see what the lay of the land was. Ten of the spies came back and said, "No way. Those guys in the Promised Land that we're supposed to defeat? They're HUGE." Two of the spies said, "Yeah, those guys are big, but God is bigger."

Sp, Cancer Free Land is scary, and there will be challenges, but I need to trust that God is able to take care of me, and that He is dependable. And, of course, make wise food decisions. (See below: Give Up Sugar Or Die).

Give Up Sugar Or Die

We exchange gifts with my parents and clan on Thanksgiving, so I got quite a haul last week, including:
an air popper
a new briefcase
cookie sheets
a book on salads
scrapbooking stuff
"Beating Cancer With Nutrition"

I started reading the latter last night, and I haven't gotten very far into it, but they have a summary at the front for those people who are Stage 4 and need the basics. And one of the tenets is No Sugar. Apparently cancer cells feed on sugar, and sustaining a high blood sugar level is bad, bad, bad.
Sigh.
I do love me some Coke. And pastries. And donuts. And cookies.

Recap

We're home from Kansas now. Whew! We left at 7 a.m. Saturday morning, as we needed to pick up Bella TMSM from the kennel by 6 pm. It is a ten hour trip normally, from Kansas to Houston. We stopped for brunch at 10:25 a.m. at Braum's in Ardmore, OK. DH and I wanted b'fast, the girls wanted lunch. Those poor people at Braum's could not wrap their heads around that. It took about 5 minutes for them to key in the order, and even then they didn't charge us for my drink.
Then, their computers went down, which apparently prevented them from fixing our food. I asked for my money back, and so it all ended with us getting our food around 11, AND our money back.
We made good time till around Hillsboro, about 30 miles north of Waco, where traffic was down to one lane, and then with the rain and heavy traffic, we slowed down. We stopped in College Station for lupper at 4 p.m. Subway. One girl working. She did not multi-task well. She got all the bread out -- ours and the guy behind us. Then did the meat one at a time. Then did the toppings one at a time.
So, we got home at 5:50. I'd called the kennel to tell them we were running late, so we'll pick up Bella TMSM tomorrow.
We got inside the house, and Winston had left several little presents in the bathroom, bedroom, and living room. Sigh. I'm so glad we're getting new flooring. Nothing like coming home after an 11 hour trip, and spending half an hour scrubbing up cat poop.
I unpacked for a while, and then had to rest.

Friday afternoon, we went to see "Enchanted" with my sis and nieces. I LOVED that movie. I want to see it again. I hardly ever say that. It was fabulous. Apparently, it was in development for ten years. I'm glad they waited, because I thought it was great. Amy Adams plays the main character, and she strikes just the right tone.

Day After Thanksgiving, Sing That Song, Doodah, Doodah

So, I got up at 5:15 a.m. and went shopping! I was going to go to Walmart, but the parking lot was full to the street, so I skipped it. I went to Best Buy, found what I wanted, and stood in line for 45 minutes. The best part was there was a shelf of books after I'd stood in line for about 20 minutes, so I got to start that book by the guy who wrote "The Kite Runner." It was good -- I find myself wondering what happened to the main character.
Then I went to Michael's, and got a few things. They were having a 20% off your entire purchase sale.
Bed, Bath and Beyond was my last destination. They were also having a 20% off everything sale.
Picked up donuts and coffee and came home by 9 a.m.

My Hair

So I've heard from a lot of people that my hair might be curly once it is long enough to curl. That's fine. It's certainly soft -- like having a chinchilla on my head.
The weird thing is the color. If you remember, my long glorious locks were brown. A nice chestnut brown. Yes, I dyed my hair to cover the gray, but I dyed it as close to my natural color as possible -- brown. I've had brown hair since I was a baby. And now it's kind of a silvery darkish kind of color. Not that I'm complaining, mind you. I'll take any kind of hair line. I'm not going to dye it any time soon, as i have heard horror stories of people dying their hair too soon, and it all fell out again.

My Perfect Thanksgiving Meal

Most people eat too much on Thanksgiving. Me, not so much, as I don't care for much of the traditional dishes. So, in case you were wondering, here is my perfect Thanksgiving meal:

cheesy cauliflower
broccoli rice casserole
warm yeast rolls
green bean casserole
devilled eggs
black olives
sugar-free chocolate pie

you will notice that there is no turkey, stuffing, cranberries, mashed potatoes or sweet potatoes on there. I know, I'm weird.

Uh...

So, I'm in Academy Sports Store the other day, and I see a lady with a baby. I go over to coo at the baby, and she looks at me and says, "How are you?
Great, I say.
You're all done with treatment?
Yes. Doing good. How are y'all?
Doing good, she says.

We say our goodbyes and go our separate ways.

I have NO IDEA who she was.

The. Ugliest. Tree. Ever.

I Just Remembered

so I'm in the security line at LaGuardia, going home, and the guy in front of me is having his boarding pass and ID checked.

Check-In Guy: Everything looks ok. Have an nice flight.
Guy In Front of Me: OK, you, too! (walks off)
Me: Did he just tell you to have a nice flight?
CIG: (rolling his eyes) If I had a dollar for every time someone's said that, I could retire.

Ow.

After church and lunch today, DH decided he wanted to go shopping. Fine. I did not realize, however, that he meant hours of shopping, and i wore fabulous shoes rather than shopping shoes.

Traffic Woes

I got stuck behind a Moped today. Are you kidding me? A moped? Chugging away at 20 mph.

Fashion

I bought a new purse a few weeks ago. It has fake animal skin on it, and a big silver buckle closure. And when I'm in Texas, I get compliments on it once or twice a week. When I was in NYC, however, at the Hard Rock Store, the guy checking me out looked at it and said, "Wow, that's really...Texan."

DD2 Is a Funny Girl

We go into a restroom the other day, and she opens a stall door without checking to see if it was occupied. It was, and the lady, who was getting ready to walk out, was a trim lady with short white hair. DD2 looks at her and says, "Well, you're a cute little grandma!"

I Am Becoming An Old Lady

The proof?

1. I need my reading glasses more and more.
2. I just bought my first pair of SAS shoes.

One More Pic

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

She's Growing Up

Madam La Princesse informed me that she would prefer to do her own packing in the future.

More NYC Pics

at Ellis Island

at Ferrara's

Amy, Danielle and I at Marseille

Pics From NYC

Amy & Me

My First NY Hot Dog

Me and the Lady

Going Back to College!

My beloved oldest niece is in her first year of college, and is struggling in this one class. So I have been helping her in her construction of a paper. Not writing it for her, I hasten to assure you, but giving her things to think about so she can write it herself. I asked her for a copy of the actual assignment, and here it is:

The personal ethnography paper will require you to identify and analyze how your cultural identity is influenced by gender class and or race. By the end of this assignment you should be able to: demonstrate awareness of how people are positioned as members of particular cultures. Identify how identity is influenced by the structures of gender, class and race. Narrate a specific experience that is relevant in illustrating cultural identity. Use descriptive strategies to vividly create impressions for the reader. Analyze implications of social systems in your life, particularly as revealed in your experience

.

I am considered relatively intelligent by some of my acquaintance, but i have to tell you, my response to some of the above was "wha...."?

Tuesday

An alien has apparently inhabited my younger daughter. Not that I'm complaining. A normal morning for us goes something like this:
Me: Good morning, angel. Time to wake up.
DD2: (groans and pulls pillow over her head)
Me: (singing) Good morning to you, good morning to you, good morning dear booboo, good morning to you.
DD2: (from under pillow) I don't want to get up.
Me: Sorry about that. Now I've laid out your clothes for you, so after you go potty, get dressed, wash your face, brush your teeth and hair, and then you can have breakfast. I'm going to go take a shower and get dressed.
Then I come back after getting dressed to discover her sitting on the floor of her bedroom playing with her stuffed animals.

Today, however, I was awakened by the alien inhabiting DD2's body, who informed me that she was completely dressed, she'd washed her face, brushed her teeth and hair, and could she please have breakfast? It was awesome. We were actually early to her school. Made a nice change.

I went and camped out in the doctor's waiting room this morning for 2 hours, so they could fit me in and get me some drugs. The dr ended up giving me some free samples. Yay for free!
Soup and sandwich for lunch, then recycled some newspapers at dd1's school, where apparently people believe in recycling, but Abitibi doesn't believe in picking up the recycled materials -- all three bins were full, full, full.
Returned DD1's library book to the school as well. It was seriously overdue, as I got this letter from the librarian last week -- my first notice -- that I needed to pay the school $20 for a lost book.

One Souvenir

Among the things I brought home from New York City is an upper respiratory infection.

Sunday

In the morning, Amy and I went to the Met, where I saw some lovely paintings, including some Vermeers, which were luminescent. I looked for any Andrew Wyeth, but those are considered modern, so they'd probably be at the Museum of Modern Art. As Amy said, yet another reason to come back to NYC! I bought a book on Vermeer, and some postcards. They had a book on Wyeth, but it was $40, and I'd already spent enough, so next time.
We bought a couple of slices of pizza at a little shop. Yum. Then we went back to Brooklyn, and went to the Gospel Music service of Brooklyn Tabernacle, which was great. Great music, a great spirit about the place. They had several women come up and give their testimony about how God had delivered them from addictions, or the effects of abuse.
One lady, from Cambodia originally, said at one point during her testimony, "In my country, if you want to kill yourself, they say, 'How can I help you?' Here, they rush you to the hospital and save you. It was so frustrating!" She was very funny, despite having gone through some horrific things.
I appreciated Amy coming with me, even though she's not a Christian. She said at one point she hoped I didn't mind that she didn't sing along, and I said no, I didn't mind, God wants us to be honest, and He wouldn't be impressed by her singing lyrics she didn't believe in.
We took the subway back to the apartment, Amy called for a car, and I finished packing up. I left close to 6:30, and got to the airport around 7. The poor guy driving the car is from the Ukraine, and is a mechanical engineer by trade, but he can't find that kind of work here.
I got checked in, went to Au Bon Pain for a mushroom sandwich, where Moe and Curly were doing their level best.
Went thru security, ate my sandwich, and as soon as I finished the sandwich, it was time to board.
Slept and read on the plane, got home, and had to tidy the house, as today is housekeeper day.

Saturday

Well, we made the best of a bad situation, and went to Wintuk, a Cirque de Soleil production. I had never been to a Cirque de Soleil before, and Danielle, my friend who lives in upstate NY who came in for the day, got us great seats -- 6 rows from the stage.
I ate my very first knish b4 the show -- it's a kind of fried mashed potato thingy -- very nice.
Afterward, we went to the Times Square area, and went to a Broadway souvenir store, where I bought Spamalot shirts for me and DH. Mine says, "I'm Not Dead Yet", which I thought was really funny, considering. Then we went to the Hershey's store, and the M&M store, where I bought some sleep pants.
For supper, we ate at Marseille, a French restaurant Danielle had heard good things about. I was going to have the bouillabaisse, till I saw it was $28. So, both Danielle and I went for the prix fixe menu, where you chose an appetizer, a main course and a dessert for $35. Amy ordered a la carte. The food was very nice, and the conversation stimulating. Amy and Danielle are both liberals, and of course I'm a conservative, so it was interesting getting their point of view on things.
Amy's a Wiccan, Danielle is Jewish, and I'm an evangelical Christian, so we had an interesting discussion there, too. Danielle asked me one of the most perceptive questions -- something along the lines of: "How do you reconcile that, being friends with us, but thinking we're both going to go to hell?"
I explained that Jesus said people would recognize his followers by their love, so I wanted to show them love and acceptance. I know Amy at least has been hurt by Christians in the past, and I was willing to bet Danielle had, too. So, I'd prefer to show them love, and if they ever had any questions about Jesus, to answer them, and go on from there.
After supper, Danielle tried to see a movie but they were all sold out so she just ended up going back to NJ, and Amy and I went back to the apartment, watched a bit of TV, and went to sleep.

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Dear Broadway Union Workers,
I understand that you haven't had a pay increase in ten years, but, you couldn't have waited ONE MORE DAY to go on strike?

Love,
ChemoGirl
holder of now-useless tickets to SpamALot

Brrrrr!

New York, she is cold. We had to stop at one point today so I could buy some gloves. I'd brought a hat and a coat with me, but i really didn't think it would be this cold. i was wrong.
we got up this morning, and went to the TKTS line and bought tickets for Avenue Q tonight and Spamalot tomorrow afternoon. ThenI bought a hot dog from a street vendor, and we wandered around a bit.
We stood in line about 45 minutes to get on the Liberty Island Ferry. We walked around the island, and then went on to Ellis Island.
We had dinner in Little Italy and dessert at Ferrara's, wandered around Times Square a bit, and then went to the show, which is like an R-rated Sesame Street episode. Songs include "It Sucks to Be Me", and "Everyone's A Little Bit Racist." Very original show.

Greetings From Brooklyn!

Well, I made my flight yesterday, despite staying up late doing laundry the night b4, and getting up early to make devilled eggs for the teachers' luncheon at DD2's school. ( i KNOW, but i volunteered back in August b4 i knew i was taking this trip.) We walked DD2 into school, DH and DD1 carrying the devilled eggs, DD2 carrying her backpack, and food for the charity drive, and me carrying the snacks, as DD2 was Snack Lady yesterday -- bananas and those little cheese and crackers things. Went home, got DD1 on the bus, finished packing, kissed DH, and then went to Kohl's to get the sensor taken off the pants i'd bought last week for the trip (all my other pants aren't fitting yet), and then went to THREE differenct ATMs before I found one that would take my card.
Zoomed to the airport, parked at the Park and Ride, and got to the airport an hour b4 my flight, checked in, walked the 2 million mies to security, stood in line and then took off shoes, belt, jewelry and all my carryon bags for security, got dressed again, walked another million miles, got a pretzel and some marinara sauce, got to the gate just as they were boarding. got settled in my supposed seat, and opened my marinara sauce so i could enjoy my pretzel, only to find that the guy n front of me was in my actual seat, so i had to gather up my purse, my carryon, my pretzels and open marinara sauce and my bottle of water and move one row up. needless to say, the marinara sauce got all over me.
and the guy sitting next to me liked to use both of his armrests and extend his elbows beyond them, so i spent most of the flight hunched away from his elbow. i slept a bit, but was awakened by "lunch": a cup of iceburg lettuce, and The Worst Pizza Ever. I took one bite, and that was it.
i tried chatting to Elbow Man:
me: so, do you live in Houston or New York?
EM: Houston.
me: are you going for fun?
EM: a seminar.

given the fact that he was not making eye contact, i decided he was not interested in chatting with me. the guy in the aisle seat seemed nice, but i knew EM would not want us talkng over him, so i gave up, and read my bible and eavesdropped on the three sisters sitting behind me who had a lot to say.
i arrived in la guardia, and stopped to buy a pair of sunglasses, as i'd left all three of my Walgreen's sunglasses at home, and Amy was right there to greet me. We picked up my suitcase, and got a cab to her apartment. Taxi driver was a bit bemused at my request to take his picture, but he complied readily.
Amy and I chatted for a while, and then went to a nearby restaurant that served homemade fries with curry mayo. oh. my. goodness. they were good! i had a vegetable pave as well, but those fries were awesome! we came home, chated some more, watched "Grey's Anatomy", and then went to bed as i was really tired.
today we plan to get tickets for a show, see the Statue, and who knows what else.

Morning

DD1 got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. She greeted me this morning with a complaint that I didn't tuck her in last night (untrue), and before she got on the bus complained that I had packed snacks She Didn't Like. It wasn't much better in between, either.

Tuesday

I taught a drama class today to the local Home Schooling Co-op. That was fun.
Went to the local Christian superbookstore, and got some long-sleeved t-shirts for her to wear when (if) the weather gets colder. Went to Sur La Table, and used my $10 coupon to buy a pie crust guard, and a Christmas present for someone who reads this blog.
Ate some of that yummy yummy soup at Le Petit Paris, and then looked at used exercise bikes. I am starting DD2 on a Fit Kids program, which is a 12-week program to increase kids' activity level and get them to eat healthier. One of the things they recommend for kids to do is cycling and swimming. As it gets colder, it may not be convenient for us to go swimming at the Y or go biking outside, but if we got an exercise bike, she could bike inside.
Picked DD2 up from school, and then spent some more time talking to Dodge dealers.

I am going to NYC this weekend! I'm going to see my friend Amy and my friend Danielle, and see as many Broadway shows as humanly possible. Anyway, DH and the girls are trying to decide what they're going to while I'm gone. I think they have decided on staying home and watching lots of movies.

Monday

I spent most of today researching the inventory of Dodge Chargers in the area. And since we live in the 4th largest city in the US, there are a plethora of Dodge dealers around. 19, to be exact.
So, I have calls or emails in to 7 of them, asking for driveout prices on the Chargers I am interested in. In case you don't know this, there's a difference between the price they quote you and the price you end up paying. When we bought the minivan in '04, I had two quotes from 2 different dealers that were exactly the same upfront, but differed by $750 when they got to the drive-out price.
In our family, I am the negotiator. I do all the research, and then narrow it down to a few choices, which DH then chooses from. Unless he doesn't care, like which shade of beige carpet we're getting. Because to him, beige, taupe, and off-white are all the same.
Tonight I went to the new HEB grocery store that just opened up. And I am exhausted. Because it was CROWDED. Like Christmas time at the mall crowded. And I have gotten spoiled after 7 years of being a stay-at-home mom. I am not used to crowds.

The Weekend

The only things of note from this weekend are:
* I went to buy some more follicle booster, and it was only $20. This was a savings from the first time I bought it, of about $4 or so. At first, I was pleasantly surprised, to think that prices went down for once, instead of up. But ha! ha! Naive litte Chemo Girl! The first follicle booster I bought for ~$24 was for 100ml of liquid, or over 3 oz. The one I just bought for $20? 30 ml. Or just around 1 oz. So! Thanks, Nioxin! For tripling your prices!
* DH went to church with us on Sunday! For the first time in three years! (I don't count when DD1 got baptized, or the time, I got sick and he had to come pick me up.)

Memory...

Today I forgot:
1. to have DD2 bring a pattern to show and tell
2. to give DD1 her homework
3. to remind DD1 that she could bring a stuffed animal or pillow to school today

DD1 apparently got a conduct mark because she didn't have her homework. We had to leave early this morning to get to school on time for the Fun Run, so I forgot. I tried to tell DD2 it was her responsibility to remember, but I don't think she bought it....

Friday

Today was a fun run fundraiser at DD2's school. The elementary kids run around the track for 30 minutes, and get pledges from friends and family for how long they can run. I went with DD2. She started off strong, but then stopped, so I went with her, and we walked the rest of the time. We did 5 laps!
Some of those kids, though, did ten or eleven laps. Man!
Today I meet with my cancer posse. I am very excited.

Dirt! Going Cheap! Sort Of!

So, I'm trying to get all my Christmas shopping done b4 Thanksgiving so I can maybe focus more on Christ and less on All I Have To Do. And I go to reds.com to see if there's anything there that DH might like. And! For $30, plus shipping and handling,I could get part of the "actual infield playing surface from a game that was played on by the Cincinnati Reds during the MLB season. The playing surface is displayed in a hand crafted acrylic case and comes with a laser engraved Cincinnati Reds team logo."

In other words, dirt.
In a box.

H'ween

Got an email from a nearby restaurant that kids ate free if they showed up in their costumes, and adults got 20% off. sold! we came back from eating and promptly went trickortreating for about an hour. I had the overflow bag, which soon contained DD1's wig and jacket, as it got a bit hot tonight. Much different from my days of trick or treating in the Midwest, where most times the neighbors couldn't tell what your costume was, because you had a coat on over it.
The trend in our neighborhood is to sit out in your front yard, and hand out candy. A lot of people just congregate, so the kids will get candy from three or four households at one stop.
Here are some pics. DD1 did her own makeup, which prompted DH to say she looked more like Dee Snider of Twisted Sister than Hannah Montana....

A(nother) Crappy Morning

Woke up ~ 6:30, and saw that Bella had pooped on the carpet. OK, grab a kleenex, pick up the poop and go to the guest bathroom, as the other one is occupied. DD2 had apparently forgotten to flush last night, so I flush the toilet. And it overflows. Yay!
I get all that cleaned up, and go in to see that Bella has taken some cat poop out of the litter box. Double yay!
Normal morning other than that, girls to school, work out, eat a salad.
But! DH has finally acceded to our need for new flooring, so I'm going to Home Depot today to order it!

Why Am I Awake?

ChemoGirl, you say,
you got up at 4:30 a.m., why are you still awake at 11:30 p.m.?
Because I am STUPID.
I'm cutting way down on the sodas, as they are basically liquid candy, and evil. So, I get caffeine headaches. (Which my overactive imagination immediately assumes is brain cancer.) So, tonight when I got home, I had a cup of Mountain Dew to take away the headache.
Yep. Mountain Dew. That highly caffeinated beverage. The headache went away, but now I am AWAKE. I slept for about an hour, after I watched the results show of Dancing With The Stars (and, oh my GOSH I can't blv who got eliminated!), but now I Am Awake.

The Rest of Tuesday

Went to the gym for the first time in about a month. It felt good to exercise again!
Picked up DD2 for her Dr appt. She'd been complaining of a sore ear for the past few days. Doc said the ear drum looked fine, but it looked like swimmer's ear or something.
We went to eat at a Chinese buffet, DD2's choice. I had mainly veggies. She had that famous Chinese dish, mac and cheese. And pizza. I put some broccoli and squash on her plate and made her eat them.
Dropped her back at school, came home and actually did some writing! I'm supposed to speak at chapel in December at DD2's school, so I wrote a sketch to take up some of the time I'm supposed to talk, and forwarded it to the drama teacher at DD2's school.
Baked potatoes and roasted veggies for supper.

Later

So, I closed my eyes for a few minutes....and woke up 15 minutes b4 DD2's school started. Dang it. Got DD2's backpack all together, and forgot to put it in the van.
DD1 missed the bus. So I drove her to school and then dropped off the back pack.

Monday

Spent the morning tidying up and doing stuff around the house. Lunch, errands, picked up DD2, more errands, picked up DD1, went to dentist to get DD1's molars sealed. It was much more successful this time, as a) they let me come back with her, and b) Dr. Satchell, who is very patient and gentle, explained everything to her so she didn't freak out.
Came home, put a king ranch casserole in the oven, and made my pumpkin pie from scratch. It turned out pretty well, at least warm from the oven. I'll have to see how it tastes after having been refrigerated overnight.
Went to Brownies, came home ~8 p.m., just really tired. Went to bed around 9:15. Woke up at 4:15.

Sunday

With the pie recipe, you have to put the baked pie pulp in a strainer overnight to let it drain. i did so, warning DH what is was and not to touch it. I, however, did not warn DD1, who decided the pulp was spaghetti and dumped it out. sigh.

This afternoon, we went to a pumpkin patch with Robin and her kids. These pumpkin patch people are making money hands over fist. $3 admission per head. What do you get for this $12? The opportunity to take pictures of your kids amidst the pumpkins. And, of course, the opportunity to buy pumpkins. They have a train ride, a hay rack ride, and giant inflatables, all of which you can ride. For two additional dollars per head per ride.
Admission: $12
6 ride tickets: $12
Pumpkin and a few gourds: $12
Total time spent at the pumpkin patch: about a hour

Saturday

DH was out of town all week, so today we went shopping together with DD2. DD1 was at a Girl Scout function.
Had lunch at Le Petit Paris, which had The Best Soup. It was a curry soup with chicken, potatoes and carrots. Yum! Curry has turmeric, which has anti-cancer properties, so double yum!
Now I am making pumpkin pies from scratch. I've never had a pumpkin pie that wasn't made from the canned filling, and my friend Rosebud very kindly supplied me with a recipe. She lives in Michigan, so she can't come over and show me how....
I'll let u know how it comes out.

Friday

Went to DD1's book fair, where she spent her $5 on surprise! a Hannah Montana poster. Then brought DD2 lunch (blech) Burger King. Went to the Container Store, as I need to tidy up DH's man cave, and put some of the detritus in boxes.
DD2's school had homecoming last night, and all the k'garteners were supposed to be on the field when the football players came on the field, waving banner and pompms. DD2 declared she Did Not Like Sports and Did Not Like Cheering. So, needless to say, we didn't go to the homecoming game. We went to a Fall Festival instead.
I would post pics of the Fall Festival, but I forgot my camera. The DDs Could Not Believe I forgot my camera.
We got there, and I bought a cupcake from the Bake Shop right away, while the getting was good. I lurked around the silent auction, and bid on a few things, but didn't see anything I had to have.

Thursday

I've known for a month that I had a meeting to get ready for at church today. So when did I start getting ready for it? Last night. After ten.
Then, I was POSITIVE I had a copy of On Golden Pond -- i wanted to show a clip from it during the meeting to maybe use at the next marriage event we're planning. I didn't even go to look for On Golden Pond in the DVDs till midnight. Was it there? No.
So, I looked at W'mart and Target today b4 the meeting started. They didn't have it. So I went to Blockbuster and rented it.
The meeting started at 10 am and had to end at noon as a couple of the pastors had another meeting at noon. Did we have time to watch the clip? No.
Had lunch with Anne, then went to Penney's to do some early Christmas shopping. They must have heard I was coming, cuz they were putting up the wreaths. Seriously. In OCTOBER. So, I used my $10 coupons on a gift for one of the MILs, and then on a dress for me to wear to DH's Christmas party -- it is gray, to match my hair.
I'm going to go rest.

The Pumpkin Patch

Unbewiivable

The Serbian food was quite tasty! don't ask me any of the names of anything, tho. after lunch, we went to the Phoenician Market, which features stuff like an olive bar, 7 different kinds of feta cheese, halal meats, and so on. My favorite was "cabbage ecstasy," which are two words i would have never put together....
came home, picked up the girls from school, and went to the dentist so DD1 could get her teeth sealed. unfortunately, the hygenist would not let me back there with DD1, and did not take the time to explain to DD1 what was going to happen, so DD1 freaked out. by the time they finally called me back there, she was too freaked out for them to do anything, so we left.
i don't think we'll want to see that hygenist again, tho.
we went to the pumpkin patch next, where DD1 got a pumpkin, DD2 got a gourd, and i got some pumpkin bread, and we were all happy.

today, i volunteered at the book fair at DD1's school, which was fun. some of these kids would pick out 4 books and then hand me a dollar, so i had to explain the concept of price to them. the concept of taxes was an unfamiliar one as well. i got to pick out a free book for volunteering!

Came home, and was doing my bible study, when my friend Melinda came by. she had just been at GameStop, and they had 3 Wiis left. So, i got right in my car and went down there and got the last one. this will be our big Christmas gift this year. a wii is a game system, but instead of sitting and playing a game, it's more active. it comes with 5 sports games. i'd looked at them on ebay, and one seller said he'd lost 10 lbs since getting his Wii.
i had been going to get a backyard trampoline, but the girls wouldn't be able to jump on it much in the cold weather. this way, even if it's cold outside, they can still play some games and get some exercise at the same time.
we took DD2 to gymnastics after school, then the girls got haircuts, and then we went to see "The Game Plan," which DD2 declared was the best movie she had ever seen.

Another Boring Update

Ate some mexican food last night that did not agree with me. There's nothing I hate worse than arguing with mexican food.
fell asleep watching Dancing With The Stars. Woke up, rewound it, and fell asleep at the same place.
The alarm woke me at 6:15. I turned the radio on and went back to bed for a few minutes. unfortunately, the radio was tuned to the local public radio station. And it's fundraising time. There's nothing that will put me to sleep faster than people asking for money...

I'm going to eat Serbian food today with Dragana. I told her as long as goat wasn't featured on the plate, that sounded fine.

Man, I Wish My Life Was More Interesting

Did stuff around the house today. Had lunch with DD1, then brought snacks to DD2's class -- pudding and carrots, per DD2's request. Seemed an odd combination, but she was happy.

Today

Rather than a blow-by-blow of my life, this blog is intended to tell you only the funny and/or interesting elements.
That being said, not much funny or interesting happened today. I did discover to my chagrin that Barton Springs Grill, a nearby restaurant with outdoor seating and a chopped salad I adored, closed down.
And we went to the secondhand store to get DD1 her Halloween costume, as, like every other little girl I know, she is going to be Hannah Montana this year. If you don't know who HM is, and you hand out candy at Halloween, trust me, you'll be seeing lots of little girls with long blond wigs on this year.
DD1 was supposed to go to GAs tonight, a girls group that teaches girls about missions and missionaries, but I was too tired.
I hope I get my energy back soon.

Friday and Saturday

I spent the morning working on my BC scrapbook so I could show it to DD2's classmates. So much so that I forgot to drop off her lunch. She ended up eating some pizza, but I still felt terrible when I realized I'd forgotten -- about 8 p.m.
The reading went fine. I brought along a wig and some of my chemo hats for the kids to wear. The wig was a big hit -- a lot of the boys wanted to try it on.
In the early evening, the girls and i went to a bday party, where Silly String was the big hit. We left around 7, as that seems to be the time I (still) get tired. I hope in a few weeks I can get my energy back.
Today, DD2 and I went to a craft show. Before I left, DH and I had the following conversation:

Me: OK, I'm leaving for the craft show!
DH: Don't spend too much.
Me: Oh, I'm just going to look.
DH: (snorts) Right.

Well, they had some fabulous stuff, so I did end up buying some stuff:

• big ole earrings to offset my short hair
• nuts
• a denim shirt with fall fabric insets
• a CD of Christian music
• 2 hair bows for the DDs
• a fall table runner for the kitchen table

I'd told DD2 she could spend $5, so she looked all over for a stuffed animal that was $5 or less. Finally found one that's really a dog toy, but she's happy with it. She is determined not to share it with Bella TMSM.

We bbq'd outside today, as the weather is fabulous here in SE Texas. The whole process reminded me of something my friend Danielle sent me about how men think barbecueing is such a treat, as it "saves" the women so much time.

Whatever

So the puppy is supposed to be kept quiet for ten days after her surgery. Apparently, she didn't get the memo, as she is running after the cats just as much as before.
I volunteered at DD2's school yesterday morning, then went to see "Jane Austen Book Club," which was ok. Then I went on a bootless inquisition to find a book called "Sammy's Mommy Has Cancer". I'm reading to DD2's class today, and i wanted to read a book to them to explain why i have really, really short hair.
I just sat down at the kitchen table to eat some whole wheat toast. Puppy wanted up on my lap. OK, I pick her up and set her on my lap. She immediately starts lapping up the butter on my toast.

Did We Have Fun On Our Vacation?

Why, yes we did!

Calendar Girl

I found out last week that the DDs and I made the 2008 Hope & Inspiration calendar. Apparently I am Mrs. May. :D
The photographer called this morning to see if I wanted any copies. I told her I would ask around to see if anyone wanted one, and I'd just place one big order. The calendars are $16.24 apiece. Let me know in the next couple of days if you would like one.

Tuesday

was just a nice quiet day. I got the girls off the school, looked at prices of new digital cameras in case the one I dropped in the pool never recovers, did my bible study, rested, and went through clutter.

Ahem

So last night I'm going thru the mountain of mail that accumulated while we were gone, and I get the Explanation of Benefits from my insurance company. They are not covering the rads. August was $47,000.
Now, I am not freaking out because the rads were at the same place where I had my lumpectomy in February, and I never got a bill for that, nor for the bloodwork I had done before each chemo. DH still wants me to check it out, though, as I would probably have to go back to work for a couple of years at least to pay the bill.

The Weekend

I arranged for rads to be at 7:30 a.m. so we could get on the road. Had to run a few quick errands before we could take off, one of which was dropping off the house key to Deanna so she could check on the kitties. She was at the bus stop chatting with some other moms when I drove up to her house, one of which excused herself and ran to her house and came back with a t-shirt for me that says, "Save The Ta-Tas" in glittery letters. It is just fabulous.

Of course, DD1 wanted to know what ta-tas were, and we had to explain that it was slang, and probably not a good idea if she used that particular word. I could just see her going to school and saying that her mom had had cancer in her ta-tas.

Saturday, we drove into Boerne for some shopping and German food. It was pretty crowded, as there was an antique car rally going on in town, so there were all these extra booths set up. I got a new purse, a pitcher from Poland for my collection, and some little pottery bowls. The girls each got a Webkinz, and DH got a shirt that looked like it had flames on it and some peach salsa.
DH swears he heard this particular bit of dialogue from a couple of old guys as I passed by:

Old Guy 1: (looking at my coiffure) I'd kill my wife if she did that.
OG 2: What? Get cancer?

Sunday, we stayed at the Ranch all day. It was very restful for DH and me, as we read most of the day. The girls spent most of the day at the water park or the pool. I took several pictures of them in the wave pool, and slipped at one point and dropped the camera in the water. :{ I don't know if the camera's going to work again, but I did download the pics on the memory card onto a CD at Walgreen's today, so that's good.

Monday, we checked out of the Ranch, and drove to Fredericksburg, which has a fabulous downtown shopping area -- lots of cool shops. We parked on Main, and DH said, "Where do you want to start?" I looked up and saw a scrapbooking store two doors down and made a beeline. I found lots of fabulous things there that I couldn't live without. During the course of the morning, DH bought a shirt, and some jumping beans. We ate some German food for lunch, and bought some pastries for the road, and then headed home.

Got home a few hours later and picked up Bella the Money Sucking Machine from the vet, where we'd had her spayed on Friday and then boarded for the rest of the time we were gone. Vet wants us to keep her quiet for the next week. Fat chance. Not when there's so many kitties to chase....

We're Back!

We went out of town for a 4 day family vacation to the hill country of Texas to celebrate the end of my cancer treatment. It was fun and relaxing.
Friday, we went to Austin and had lunch at Chuy's with my friend Cindy, and then we went and played at Zilker park for a while. Then we drove to Bandera, to the Flying L Ranch. They have a water park, horseback riding, supervised kids' activities, ping pong, horseshoes, nightly Western entertainment....
I'll write more in the morning, just wanted to check in with y'all as I hadn't posted in a few days.

love,
Cancer-Free Girl

Today's The Day!

Eight months to the day after I heard those words, "The tumor was cancerous," I finish my cancer treatments!

Later Wednesday

Pick up DD2 from school, go home, DD1 gets home, go to gymnastics for DD2, pay for van repairs, test drive a Charger (i KNOW, but it's what DH wants), pick up DH at bus stop, go back to dealership to get van, Luby's for supper as it is Kids Eat Free night.
When the whole family can eat for $13, this is a good thing.

The girls really liked riding in the Charger. Wanted to know if we could buy it today.

Wednesday

I woke up at the exact time DD2 was supposed to be at school. Sigh.

Took Bella TPM to the vet for 2 things:
1. to be weighed so they would know how much heartworm medicine to give her
2. to see if she was in heat, as she's been acting a bit weird

By the time we left the vet, she had been weighed, and examined, and diagnosed with a skin condition probably due to food allergies. So, $111 later, we leave with Bambi-and-potato dog food and treats, and some allergy meds.

Take Bella The Money Sucking Machine home, and then take the van in to the dealer for its 50K check-up. Of course, all of the brakes need to be replaced. Sigh.

Snapper Jack's for lunch, then, as DH keeps making little grumbly remarks about wanting a new car, on to the Toyota dealership to test drive an Avalon. Salesman is very enamoured with all of the safety features of the car, and mentions most of them twice.

Tuesday Evening

The DDs and I went to the toy store, so they could compile their Christmas list. Do i have to mention I got writer's cramp in the process?
i went to the toy store last week because they had a sale on DVDs and board games. so i virtuously did some early Christmas shopping. I don't have to tell you that the DDs did not put any of the games and DVDs I had purchased on their lists.
Stayed up too late, to the point I was falling asleep sitting up.

Tuesday Afternoon

After rads, DD2 and I went to Rice Village to have lunch with Bettye, a BC sister who was in town for tx at MD Anderson. We ate at Two Rows, which unfortunately interpreted "medium well" to mean "burnt and dry". Other than that, tho, it was a fun lunch. I'll post a pic in a little while. She goes back home to Mississippi on Monday after her last rads.

Tuesday

DD1 went back to school today. DD2 is still contagious, so she's home with me.

I don't know if I've told you, but DD2 is going to be Treeko (a Pokemon) for Halloween.

DD1, like every other 7 to 10 YO girl out there, is going to be Hannah Montana.

I plan on dressing up as Sinead O'Connor.

This Afternoon

Went to the dr, who didn't even bother to swab DD2's throat, just looked at it and gave us a rx. Went to the grocery store, and shopped while they filled the rx. We were out of milk and juice and lots of stuff, if the final bill is any indication. Apparently Funyons was something we really, really needed.

I'd called the rads ofc from DD2's dr's waiting room, to ask them if i could come in later. They told me the computer was down anyway, so come in at 1 p.m.

So, home, put groceries away, ate lunch, and then to rads. I made DD2 wear a medical mask while we were there, as cancer patients tend to have compromised immune systems anyway. She thought she was cool -- "paging Dr. Booboo."

These last 5 rads are what they call boosts, where instead of zapping the whole breast, they just target where the cancer was. So the treatment itself only takes ~ 5 minutes. They were a little disconcerted to find that the purple semi-circle they'd drawn on me A WEEK AGO was gone, but they dealt with it.

One of the rads techs said she went to the Komen Walk for the Cure on Saturday, and said there were so many people there, it took 90 minutes to walk 3 miles. She said she was exhausted afterwards and came home and took a three-hour nap. So, it's a good thing I bailed Saturday. I would never have been able to make it.

Monday With Children

DD1 has the day off, and DD2 still has a fever. So here we are, the three of us, none of us feeling that hot. Well, except DD2, with the fever and all.
So, I'll get to go to the doctor AGAIN. I should have just asked for 2 prescriptions when we were there on Friday, to save time.

Sunday

Went to church with DD1. DD2 is now sporting a fever, so she stayed home with DH.
Went to lunch at Souper Salad, then to Michael's to decorate pumpkins. DD1 decorated hers like a garden gnome {her description -- i don't know how anyone knows what a garden gnome looks like...], and i decorated mine like Pierrot. He ended up looking more like Mo from the 3 Stooges, tho....
Then went to a CAbi party in the neighborhood -- really nice clothes sold as an at-home business. i bought a shirt. i'm not a really fashionable dresser these days == i keep thinking one of you is going to nominate me for What Not To Wear, as I go around wearing Mike's shirts these days as they are nice and loose and don't irritate my burned skin. Comfy. Not fashionable.

5 more rads to go!

Fatigue

Here's the count:
DD1 - strep throat
DH -- allergies, congestion, not being able to breathe well
Me -- fatigue and burned skin from rads
DD2 - just fine!

This morning, DD1 and I were supposed to go walk in the Family Walk for the Komen Race For the Cure. This would have necessitated driving downtown, fighting traffic and the other thousands of people there for the races. I was not up to the challenge, so I emailed my team leader and told her to go on without us.

I basically watched TV and slept this morning, as did DH. The girls napped, watched a movie, and drew pictures.

DD2 and I went to a bday party for a little 3 YO friend of ours this afternoon. His first gift was this remote control bulldozer thing. His parents had the hardest time tearing him away from that so he could open his other gifts. It was a Big Hit. The cake was from RJ Goodies, so even tho i'd told myself i'd just have two bites, i devoured the whole piece of cake.

The skin where the rads hit is peeling. I think it's safe to say this is the first time that the skin over that particular part of my body has ever had anything like a sunburn....

Whoops, There It Is

Just got back from the dr. DD1 has strep.

The irony about today, is that the rads ofc called and postponed rads until Monday, so today would have been my first day since May when I would have been alone, feeling good, and with no medical appointments....

So Tired

I'm tired from the rads, of course, and then DD1 woke me up 2x during the night with a sore throat. Woke up at 4 a.m., did the dishes, and then surfed the web for a while.
DD1 is running a fever, so I'm keeping her home from school.

The Rest of Thursday

Had an onc appt, and by God's grace, my friend Carrie was having her 2nd chemo tx at the same time, so I went in and sat with her and chatted till the onc was ready to see me.

I'm going to have a BRCA blood test, which will tell if I have the genetic predisposition for ovarian and breast cancer. There are three possible results of the test: 1. I have the BRCA1 gene mutation. 2. I have the BRCA2 gene mutation. 3. I don't have either.

We want #3. Not #1. Test results have shown that women with the BRCA1 gene mutation have a lower survivability rate than the other two. And those who carry either gene mutation have a higher risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer.

Oh, Rats!

So, I'm taking the trash to the curb this morning, and there, large as life, lying on the driveway, is this big ole honkin' DEAD RAT. Better dead than alive, but still! I was so skeeved out that I walked two doors down and asked my neighbor Tom to come get it for me. Yes, I am a competent 45 YO college graduate, but I still didn't feel up to getting any closer to that rat than I had to.

My skin really feels sunburned today. I'm glad rads is almost over! 5 more rads tx to go!

Viva the Cancer Posse!

I got together today with two fabulous women, both of whom live near me and have been dx'd with BC. We sat at a nearby tea room, and talked and laughed for over 2 hours. It was so much fun. I had heard of their dx from mutual friends and emailed them, asking if they wanted to be part of a Cancer Posse that I was forming. More than a support group, just a gathering of young(ish) Christian women who've heard those words: "You have breast cancer," so we can talk and laugh and ask advice and vent and whatever.

Rads today took a bit longer than usual, because they're adding boosts to the area where the cancer was. But! Only 7 more treatments! Yahoo!

Monday

Had to see the rads onc after my rads today. He drew a big purple semi-circle covering 1/2 of my left breast. With a sharpie. I'm not supposed to sweat (workout) for the next week and a half, because they are doing boosts or something, and concentrating on that part of the breast where the cancer was, so the big purple semi-circle is supposed to stay on there.
I can't tell you how attractive I feel, knowing there's a big purple semi-circle semi-permanently drawn on me....

The Weekend

The four little girls soon formed a tribe. They woke up at 3 a.m. and made "breakfast" of fruit, bread, baloney and margarine. I woke up when they got too loud, and gently informed them that we wake up at 7 a.m. at our house, so they would have to go back to sleep.
they woke back up at 9:30, and we fed them kolaches.
We went to lunch in the afternoon at Fuddrucker's, where the girls had fun getting things from the machines -- fake tattoos, etc.
DD1 was supposed to spend the night at her friend's house, but her friend fell asleep at 4:30 pm, so her mom called and postponed.
Church today -- a nice intimate service -- and then errands and puppy school. Bella TPM is lagging behind her classmates, stuck on "sit", whereas everyone else is sit/stay/leave it.
Tomorrow I get to have lunch with Bettye, one of my BC sisters!

Today

DH took a day off as he had a check-up. So I tidied the house, went to rads, and then we went to lunch at 59 Diner, and to Costco. Came home, put the Costco stuff away, and then it was time to pick DD2 up from school.
Each DD had a friend coming over tonight, so we cleaned the DDs' rooms.
We have all 4 girls in the kitchen now, making things from clay. They are all talking at once.

Thursday

Made the mistake of biking to rads. 2.5 miles is a lot longer on a bike than in a car. About halfway there, I thought, "Oh. This was a mistake."
Then the rads techs scolded me, saying my body was going thru enough with rads, and i need to give it a break, yada yada.
After rads, and a very brief appointment with the rads onc, I went upstairs to the surgeon and camped out, waiting for him to be free to tell me what the result of the u/s was.
He ended up doing an u/s in the ofc himself. Bottom line: he doesn't think it's anything to worry about, and when I go back in three months, maybe we'll do an MRI.
Then I biked back home.
I had had plans of baking apple muffins from scratch for DD2's class, since she was Snack Lady, but I didn't get home till 1, and I had to be at DD2's class by 1:50, and I would have needed to core, peel and chop the apples, so Teddy Grahams and milk it was!

Wednesday

One of those days where I wore workout clothes all day and never made it into the gym.

Still no word from the u/s.

Ultrasound

Spent 2 hours at the hospital today, what with the rads and the ultrasound. Of course they wouldn't tell me anything then. I have to wait for them to send a report to Dr. Keller, and then depend on Keller telling me.
Really tired today, so the girls aren't going to get to go to their cardio class. We went to the dentist and I started falling asleep in the dentist's chair.

Ultrasound, Ultrafrustrating

So, I make arrangements yesterday, Robin to pick up DD1 and take her to Brownies, drop DD2 off at Gracie's house to play while I get my belated u/s at 7 p.m.
I get a call late in the afternoon,
"Yeah, hi, this is {}, and I didn't realize that I wasn't supposed to schedule breast ultrasounds for late in the day, since a radiologist has to be there, so we'll have to reschedule you for 11:30 a.m. tomorrow."
Now the DDs are upset, because they're not going to get to go play. I call Robin, who graciously lets the DDs come over and play for an hour.
The good thing was I got to go to book club for an hour.

This W/E

I went on a scrapbooking w/e to Round Top, which was a lot of fun. I continued my go to bed at 9, wake up at 3 a.m. routine, but i got a lot of scrapbooking done!
When Deanna came to pick me up, I had a rolling scrapbooking tote, 2 cloth bags filled with other scrapbooking stuff, a snack bag, aand a purse by the front door. i was running a bit late, so i was in a bit of a hurry.
we drove the 90 minutes to Round Top and began to unpack the van. Guess what I didn't have? My suitcase.
By God's grace, Debbie hadn't left her house yet, and she lives 7 minutes from my house, so she swung by and picked it up.

Are. You. Kidding. Me?

Today was my day to see the rads onc. It took him about 40 minutes to show up, so after I read all the magazines I was interested in, I got my chart and started reading it. And I found that back in March, when I'd had the ultrasound biopsy of a mass in my right breast, that the radiologist recommended a surgical biopsy be performed.
No on ever told me that, so no surgical biopsy was performed.
So, after I finished with the rads once, I traipsed upstairs to the surgeon who happened to be free, and asked him about it. He said he was going to see the radiologist later that day, and would ask him about it, but since it'd been six months, to go ahead and have another ultrasound.
So Monday I go in for an ultrasound of the right breast. Yippee!
Logic tells me that a) I just finished chemo, so if there were a tumor, it's probably shrunken, and b) the PET scan showed no evidence of disease, so all should probably be fine.
Still, I'll feel a lot better when I get the results of the ultrasound.

Sorry

I've had to change the settings for leaving comments on the blog. Only registered users can comment now, as I've been getting slammed by an anonymous person who's written some really hurtful things. Way to kick me when I'm down, anonymous poster!

The Fun of Being a Pet Owner

Today I got to:
1. Clean up cat poop in the master bath
2. Clean up puppy poop in the living room
3. Clean up puppy vomit in DD2's room.
4. Ditto.
5. Clean up puppy poop in the front hallway.

Trying New Things

Every day at rads, I have to put on one of those gowns. My beloved solid blue gowns have disappeared, and I'm getting tired of the blue patterned ones. So, yesterday, I saw a gray one with raspberry triangles in the gown cabinet, and chose it.
Little did I know, but the gray and raspberry gowns are for plus sized people. Think Sherman Klump. It was HUGE. I thought it was hysterical, so I kept it on. The neckline alone came down to my cleavage. If I'd run fast enough, I probably could have taken off with the side of the gown serving as wings.

Will You Eat Them In a House? Will You Eat Them With a Mouse?

A Couple of Pics

Look closely, and you can see the fuzz. This is 2 months post chemo.

Halfway Thru!

Today was rads tx #16. I have 17 more to go.
Had to take DH to the bus stop as his car was in the shop with broken tire rods, then the girls and I got donuts, as is our tradition whenever we have to take DH to the bus stop.
Got the girls to school, checked email and did some stuff online, rads, came home and tidied the kitchen and living room, dropped off some clothes at Once Upon A Child, went to lunch -- where the Chicken And Vegetable Quesadillas were long on chicken and short on veggies -- went back to OUAC and got $6.43 for my clothes, picked up DD2 from school, picked up DD1 from school, went to the dr so DD1 could get her stitches out, Dairy Queen for bravery all around, drama class for DD1 and hair cut for DD1.
Hair cut was performed by a lady whose native language was not English.
Haircut lady: How you want his hair cut?
me: You mean how do I want her hair cut?
HL: yes.
me: short, over the ears, about an inch off the bangs. she's getting her picture taken tomorrow.
[DD2 keeps tilting her head]
me: Booboo, do you want to look pretty or funky?
DD2: i can't decide.
me: if you keep tilting your head, you're going to look funky.
HL: he so handsome! [at a look from me] Is it a boy or a girl?
me: She's a GIRL.

not to belabor the point, but DD2 was still in her school uniform == a JUMPER. With MARY JANE shoes.

anyway. paid for the hair cut, and some Nioxin scalp treatment for me and my soft gray hair.
picked up DD1, went home, and had about 20 minutes for supper, so fed the girls frozen kid dinners and then the 3 of us went to a meeting at school, as DH wasn't home yet. Swung by home after the meeting, picked up DH, went to the mechanic's parking lot to pick up his car. Came home, shooed the girls off to bed, took a shower, went to bed.

Sunday

Took the dog to dog school. Where she threw up 5 times. DH made green eggs and spam for breakfast and fed some to her. This is what I got to clean up. 5 times.
About 3/4 of the way thru the class, my energy level just plummeted. I swung by Schlotsky's for a belated lunch, then went home and lay down for a few hours.
A bit of tummy upset this evening, reminiscent of those unlamented chemo days. Tonight is tidy-the-house-before-Digna-comes night, and i still have 3 more rooms to do.

Met another lady at the craft show yesterday who's just been dx'd with BC. She's triple negative as well. Didn't get to chat with her long, as the DDs were restless.

Ribbit

I sound like a frog today, so we won't be going to church.

I'm pretty sure I went to sleep before DD1 last night.

On the hair front, I have lots of soft GRAY hair coming in. I've been using the Nioxin cleanser (AKA "shampoo") and scalp therapy ever since last week when I noticed my hair was long enough to move in the wind, so I figured it was time to start washing it. My hair, that is. Not the wind.

Saturday

out to lunch, 90 minutes at a fair sponsored by the credit union, an hour at a craft fair.
tired!

Friday

Rads, then went to see "Becoming Jane", which was ok. I don't understand why they couldn't have gotten an English actress to play Jane Austen, but whatever.
Had about an hour after the movie before I went to pick up DD2, so looked at laminate flooring -- the kind that looks like hard wood. Brought a few samples home, DH picked out the one he likes, so hopefully we can replace this yucky 10-year-old carpet some day soon.

Behind the 8 Ball

Woke up at 4 due to night sweats. Was awake for a while, then fell asleep. Woke up again at ten till 8.
DD2 has to be in school at 8. I go into my bedroom, where both girls are watching TV. DD1 -- the one who doesn't have to be at school until 8:45 -- is dressed and ready. DD2 is of course still in her nightgown.
Fussfussfuss, got her dressed and ready, and off to school. No time to pack a lunch. Her very first tardy. Back home and got ready while DD1 brushed her hair, etc. Dropped her off at school and then off to a meeting a church.
Left there ~10:15, swung by KFC and got a kid's meal. Dropped it off at DD2's school -- she eats at 10:50 -- then went to rads and the lab for a blood sample where Justin the brand new phlebotomist showed me pics of his 4 YO twin girls.

I know of two ladies recently who have been dx'd with BC. One I know of thru church, and one thru Bible Study Fellowship. Check your melons, girls!

I'm considering getting a t-shirt -- to add to my "Bald Chicks Rock" t-shirt -- that says "Squeeze A Boob. Save A Life." they have t-shirts that say "Save Second Base" but i didn't want to get into any conversations with DD1 about what that meant.

Insert Clever Title Here

My left breast is turning pink.
Rads fatigue is starting to hit me.
I heated up chicken paprikosh tonight. NOT a big hit with the younger members of my family, who ate the garlic bread and cantaloupe, and ignored the chicken.

My Advice

If you're taking yr 7 YO to the ER because the dog accidentally nipped her? Wear comfy clothes. 'Cause you're going to be there at least two hours. And bring some Valium. For both of you.

OK, I don't really have any Valium, but DD1 needed 2 stitches on her lip tonight, and she was FREAKED OUT. They ended up having to roll her in a blanket so she couldn't wiggle. Didn't keep her from screaming, though.

This was not the evening I had planned.

It's Hitting

The rads fatigue has started to hit, plus the skin over my left breast has started to turn pink.
Here's what I got done today: lunches made, girls to school, 20 min of bible study, some email reading and surfing, rads, lunch at Taj India, Vitamin World for turmeric and CoQ10, pick up DD2 from school, Walgreens for pics, Chick Fil A for a snack, insurance office to pay a premium. That's it.
I had SO much else planned.

Monday

dressed in my workout clothes, got the girls to school, went to a moms' meeting for the moms in DD2's class, rads, came home to tidy the kitchen so Digna could clean it. Got done ~ 12:30, then sat down at the computer to check email and research halloween costumes. looked at my watch -- it was time to pick up DD2 from school, and i hadn't had lunch or worked out.
picked up DD2, went to Jason's for a salad. DD2 had a ice cream cone, and swiped the hard boiled eggs off my salad. which, to me, ice cream and HB eggs don't go together, but whatever. she also wanted my baklava, but i said no, no, no.
went to Hobby Lobby, which! had a ribbon stamp! 30% off, thank you very much. we saw a classmate of DD2's there.

corbin: "Booboo!" [this is DD2's nickname]
DD2: (not looking at him) What?
me: look him in the eye, please.
dd2: (looking him in the eye) What?
corbin: hi.

so i chatted with him for a minute, and then he had to go. so, periodically, the rest of the day, DD2 and i have been role playing, so that she remembers to look people in the eye when they're talking to her, and to say "Hi" back, rather than "What?"

came home, lay down, put a Super Suppers manicotti in the oven for supper.
thirty minutes before brownies, DD1 comes in and wants me to put her TryIts on her Brownie vest.
me: If you'd told me you wanted this done yesterday, I could have done it while you were in school.
dd1: i wasn't IN school yesterday.

needless to say, the tryits didn't get ironed on, because we hadn't eaten yet, and i still needed to take a shower.
my excuse for not working out was, a fellow BC survivor told me that exercise is hard on the body, as is rads, so 4x/week should be enough right now.

brownies, groceries (we were out of lunch meat, so DD2 had a cheese and tomato and mayo s'wich. i asked her how she liked it, and she said next time, leave off the tomatoes), home -- put the perishable stuff away and went to bed.